There’s been a lot of hail damage this past week in Nebraska. It’s always so hard to see the damage, regardless of when the storms come. We’re sorry for those impacted and hope all were safe. Various tools are available to show hailstorm paths. These pictures were taken from Interactive Hail Maps to get a better feel for how much of Nebraska has been impacted this week (June 5, 6, 7, and 9, 2022 shown below).

Damage Assessment Tips

Jenny Rees posted some hail damage assessment tips, considerations, and a variety of damage photos in this blog post: https://jenreesources.com/2022/06/10/hail-damage-assessment/.

The timing of this storm is similar to some of the storms experienced in 2014. Our Hail Know team wanted to share a variety of resources that are available to help you in assessing hail damage.

Helpful Resources

• Hail Know Website (has six sections including assessing damage): https://cropwatch.unl.edu/hailknow
• Webpage: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/hail-know/assess-my-damage
• Infographic: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/Hail/Images/HailKnow-Damage-Assessment.png
• Assessment Video: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/hail-know/video-hail-damage-assessment
• 2014 Storm Recovery Information: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2014-storm-recovery-information
• Corn Hybrid Maturities & Late Planting: https://go.unl.edu/gnas
• Strategies with Late Soy Planting: https://go.unl.edu/20ry
• Corn GDD Tool: https://hprcc.unl.edu/agroclimate/gdd.php
• Bean Cam Replant App: https://ipcm.wisc.edu/apps/beancam/
• Tips for Making Annual Forages Work: https://go.unl.edu/nghp
• Rural Wellness: https://ruralwellness.unl.edu/

What to Do Now

• Look at fields to see damage extent. Know what growth stage the field was in at time of the storm.
• Call crop insurance.
• Call an agronomist or review resources to anticipate what to look for in plant recovery.
• Flag plants in the field to assess recovery. This greatly aids in learning! Taking a picture now and a week later of the same plants also helps.
• Wait five to seven days to assess recovery. I realize the waiting is perhaps the hardest when we’re up against deadlines, but we need time to see what will happen with plant recovery.
• Consider options on what to do if the crop is totaled or not including herbicides applied, crop rotation restrictions, marketing and crop insurance, weed control going forward, etc.

It can be emotionally draining to look at all the damage, but we would encourage you to look for all the small positives you can find. Getting away to enjoy a hobby, talking to another person, relying on one’s faith, and keeping a greater perspective helps. We do have resources at our Rural Wellness website. Hang in there and wishing you the best with your decisions. Please reach out to any of us on the Hail Know team for questions or more information.